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Monday, June 20, 2011

My Patriotic Teddy Bear Knock Off

One thing that you probably don't know about me is that I have "a thing" for Teddy Bears. I adore them! I have collected them for years.

In the past few years, not so much. I guess I thought I had too many.

But then in the mail comes my catalog from Victorian Trading Co with this yummy Patriotic teddy bear from Bethany Lowe Designs.

I had to have it!!!! I needed it!!! I wanted it!!!!

It was $39.95!!!! Plus shipping!!!

Too rich for my cheap blood.

I checked all over the Internet to find it cheaper. But the cheapest I could find it was on eBay and it was still $34.99 plus shipping.

So what is a frugal girl like me to do?

Why knock it off.

I already had this cute teddy bear. But he was brown, not cream like the one I wanted. But he did look old and vintage. Plus, look at that face. Isn't he adorable? He would work just fine.

I first made him a ruffly collar from some red, white & blue crepe paper streamer I picked up at Hobby Lobby for 99cents when I was in Utah a few weeks back. How I wish we had Hobby Lobby here in SoCal.

Anyhoo, I just used a needle & thread to make a running stitch along one edge of the streamer. Then I pulled the string to make the streamer gather to make a ruffle. I made 2 ruffles & tied them around the neck of the bear. I did cut off the red section of the streamer on the 2nd ruffle.

Now he was starting to look patriotic.

Next came the hat. For some reason I find making a cone one the hardest things I have ever done. What is wrong with me? It seems so easy, but it took me about 10 tries before I got a cone I halfway liked. Even if the music is upside down! You can't win them all.

I hot glued on some silver tinsel that I had on hand. It originally came from the Dollar Tree. And I added a small paper medallion. I bought a bunch of pre made patriotic ones from Joann's last month to use in other projects and I had this small one left over.

Next I needed a small wooden box for the toys. I didn't have one. So I got my dear hubby to make me one. What? You expected me to make it? You obviously don't know me well enough yet. I don't use power tools. Why should I when I have a talented hubby who loves to use them and to make me stuff? I'm not stupid, just lazy.

Hubby used some wooden paint sticks he had laying around put together a small box for me. He even put little pegs on the side to make it look old using toothpicks. Then he even stained it for me. I painted the red stripe at the top and bottom & stenciled on the blue stars. I then sanded it to make the stars look like they were old. Hubby then waxed the box for me when it was all done.

The box turned out exactly how I had pictured it. Thanks hunny!!!

Then I needed some toys for the "toy box". I was going to try & make the toys look exactly like the one in my inspiration photo.

But why not use what I already had?

I've had the miniature sock monkey & pony stick for years. I did pick up the mini pistol at an antique store in Vegas while on vacation.

I also found this vintage looking "Jumbo" the elephant on wheels bank at an antique store while in Vegas. I don't gamble when I'm in Vegas, I go antique shopping. I know both of these items aren't actually "antiques", but I don't care. I just like vintage looking stuff. Plus I didn't pay the price for them actually being "antiques". I bought them for a knock off price. So I'm happy.

I then placed a small flag (from Target Dollar spot) across his arm and my "knock off" bear was complete.

I think I might even like my "knock off" version better than the original.The only things I had to buy specifically for this project was the mini pistol and the elephant toy. So I only spent a little over $10.00 for this project. And I really didn't need to buy these items, I could have found something else around my house. But they spoke to me while out shopping.Everything else we already had around the house.

Here is one more look at the inspiration for my project.

And one final look at my "knock off version".

I had more fun putting this together than I would have if I had just purchased it. And I'm tickled pink (more like red, white & blue) on how it turned out. I'm sure Bethany Lowe isn't though.

12 comments:

Hi Kim, I LOVE your patriotic bear!!! You and your hubby did a great job knocking off the bear in the catalog!!! I definitely like yours better and you have the satisfaction of creating it yourself!Jane

Ohhhh...your VTP patriotic bear knock off is soooo AWESOME!!! I like your version better too! Girl, you really are sooo creative and talented!!! I love how you did the little red, white, and blue crepe paper ruffles for the bear's collar! Too cute! He really is a handsome bear and I think he has that vintage look too! Wow...as soon as I read that your honey made that cute little wooden box...I just swooned! He's a creative and talented fellow too! I would swear that the little box is old, old, OLD! You guys did GOOD! I think the faded and worn red stripe and blue stars just make it! Awww...and I love all of your little vintage toys! Sooo cute!

Thanks so much for sharing your vintage patriotic bear vignette with us...I just adore it, my friend! Also wanted to thank you for coming by and leaving me such a sweet note today! Take care, dear lady!

Your little knock off teddy bear has the best face in the world. I know.. I love teddys too. I have a little pile of them on top of a dresser in my house. I'm partial to the brown ones with great faces like this guy. It's hard to resist a good teddy bear, and why should we!

I am visiting from FJI and LOVE your bear. I made a newspaper hat for a vintage looking bear made by a friend, but after seeing yours, I think I'll get back to work! What a clever idea for the neck ruffle also! You definitely have the knack for putting things together in a pleasing way. Charming blog. Vickie

Just found your awesome blog and am having too much fun looking around! I LOVE THIS patriotic bear and admire your attention to detail. MY hubs would never ever do all that for me (and he works with power tools) so please give yours a big hug of gratitude from me! K, off I go to look around at (and pin) more of your fun posts!(((hugs)))Leslieps- love your "about me" too! ;-)

About Me

I love blogging as it lets me peek into the lives of other people.I love to see how others decorate their homes. So I may lurk on your blog to see what's up. I love to decorate, but I tend to dream more than to do. I hate cleaning, I'm not very organized, I hate to get rid of the things I love which tends to be almost everything I own & I'm am the world's best procrastinator. But somehow I manage to keep my household from falling apart & the health dept hasn't condemned our house, yet. Knock on wood!
I'm lucky to be married to a man who can do it all. Otherwise our house might just fall apart. We have 3 adult boys between us, 1 daughter in law & 1 grandson.